A rabbit, like any other pet, is a family member who's with you for life. Getting one should be preceded by a long period of consideration about many issues, including:

Whether there will always be someone around to feed him/her; is there adequate space for him/her? A small hutch for him to spend his days in is nothing short of extreme cruelty - torture, in fact. So he'll need frequent run of at least a room in the house. He should not be banished to the cold outside during winter. etc. etc.. Mains electricity cables that he probably WILL chew are lethal, so they need to be hidden well or bunny-proofed.

I kinda hope this is obvious to all here anyway; I think it is. But just in case - maybe your friends have mentioned buying a rabbit as a present or on a whim - you could try to discourage them.

I have to say ... occasionally, the child actually does want the bunny. My parents gave into my pleading when I graduated into Grade 1 and I've had bunnies ever since! (Note: They took on the responsibility of making sure I took good care of the rabbit)

YES! I love the PSA's about bunny ownership! We adopted Remus and his brother, Romulus, from a local shelter. They were two bunnies out of a litter that had been abandoned in an alley. Apparently, Remus disapproved of this :-)

A note about bunny-proofing: After we adopted the bunnies and before we brought them home...we were bunny-proofing some wires and trying to cut open plastic tubing to duct tape around it. While doing so, Remus' dad slipped with the box cutter and wound up with 6 stitches. So, always man-proof your bunny-proofing!